Sweet Misery
by TheUchihaRaven
Summary: Ninjaverse, Naruto is following a lead on Sasuke, Sasuke is finally speaking his mind. NaruSasu


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: DON'T read the note here unless you're caught up in the manga, I **spoil** a rather…. Large thing in the comment, so… Just a warning.

Original Y! comment:

So this WAS going to be a Konoha set fiction, that was In character as I could possibly get it, that is until Kishi decided to ahem take Oro out of the picture (as far as we know), and this whole fic, well at least some of the major plot points I had planned, depended on the snake man () so now I can't really make this in character with things so rapidly changing (I like going along with the manga, and it's hard for me to just throw out thing I know are true) sooooo…. Here's the UNFINISHED, Un-Beta-ed Prologue that I probably **won't** continue (unless I get HEAVY persuading, then I might consider it v.v )

And Sakura is only in there to further the plot along. (as there ARE women in the real world and I wasn't about to have Sai go with Naruto ALONE (eh... NO)_ (if you can't tell, I'm not really that fond of Sai… ;;)_

I hope it was as good as I had promised, and I apologize for disappointing everyone.

Here ya go….

Prologue: Sweet Misery

* * *

He sighed, hot breath fogging the window instantly masking the white powder as it came down in a heavy torrent beyond the cold glass. The outside air cooled the window causing the spot to fade almost completely before another hot breath expanded the heated area once more. "When is it going to stop?" The blonde whined to himself, it didn't matter that he would be 19 soon, he still held most of his child-like innocence despite having the appearance of an adult.

He wanted to be outside training; sitting and waiting wasn't going to help bring Sasuke back any faster or put to use the vast amount of energy the blonde seemed to always have. The snow storm had kept him inside for the past few days limiting his range of motion to simple resistance training and molding his chakra. Naruto sighed again as he shifted on his feet, placing his hand on the glass, still whining slightly, while he stared out at the blinding whiteness of the late morning.

"Stupid snow." He growled lightly, now glaring at the fluffy white flakes, his eyes squinted into slits so he missed the reflection of movement behind him as he wondered what his missing raven-haired friend was doing at that moment. "Stupid Sasuke."

"Will you stop your whining already?"

Naruto turned around smiling, instantly recognizing the voice of his pink haired teammate. "Sakura-Chan!" He slipped away from his perch at the window to walk over and greet her, all thoughts about his missing comrade were now pushed to the side.

Naruto took in the sight of her, still amazed at how beautiful she had become; though, with her and Lee it was no wonder the green spandex wearing ninja was always happy. Naruto's smile grew a bit as he remembered what Sakura looked like under all the layers she was currently wearing. They never spoke about it, but while on a mission, things had gotten out of hand. After that night they both agreed to never tell anyone and to not let it interfere with their friendship, which with Naruto, it was easy. Even after everything, all the years that had passed since Sasuke had left, Naruto never allowed anyone to see him while he sat thinking about the raven, his best friend, his rival, his-

"Oi! Naruto." She smiled in return as they walked toward each other, meeting in the middle of Naruto's small apartment, the kunoichi having come in through the unlocked door. "We have a mission." Sakura stated, instantly getting down to business after the short greeting. Naruto's smile widened, those were four words he had been wishing to hear since the storm started three days ago.

He was excited; so excited he almost didn't believe it.

"Really?!"

Finally! Something to do instead of just sitting inside going insane. He needed to get his mind off of everything and a mission was the best cure he knew, other than ramen of course.

Sakura nodded in conformation leaning in closer to Naruto. "Tsunade-Sama wants us to go to Hidden Waterfall and meet someone, they have information on Orochimaru."

She whispered as if someone were listening in on them. Naruto's smile waned slightly but hearing that someone had information on Orochimaru made his heart beat faster. Leads on the snake Sannin meant leads on Sasuke and Naruto was more than willing to pursue anything that brought him closer to getting his raven haired teammate back.

"Great! When do we leave?" He asked bouncing up and down slightly as he waited for Sakura to answer him.

"Right now…" She paused slightly giving the blonde more than enough time to dart away to grab his leg pouch, winter cloak and backpack, throwing Kunai, Shuriken, scrolls, and anything else he thought he might need into them. "It's just us this time Naruto. There and back. No side trips, alright?" Sakura grabbed the orange blur, stopping Naruto in his tracks. "Alright?" She asked again releasing his arm.

"Got it!" He flashed her a toothy smile before he pulled his winter cloak closed around his shoulders, having already put on his winter shoes. He gave Sakura a thumbs up. "I'm ready!" Sakura smiled back at Naruto as he headed for the door, the pink haired kunoichi following after. Naruto locking the door, twirling his key around his finger before putting it in his pocket as they headed for the Konoha gates.

* * *

The silver haired man made his way down the long dreary hallway, his hand blocking the flame of the candle he was holding from the slight wind of his quick pace. The growing sound of metal colliding with metal was reverberating throughout the halls, making it easy for Kabuto to find his master and his treasured container.

"Again." The Uchiha heir's voice was placid an unemotional as the slightly older nin entered the large room housing weapons, training mats, dummies and targets of all kinds. Dark eyes locked onto each other, both men glaring. Sasuke scoffed and tilted his nose up slightly before Kabuto reached the long haired Sannin.

There had been tension between the raven and the medic Nin when the Uchiha had first arrived in sound when he was only 13. At 16, a week before the scheduled body transfer, Sasuke had disappeared and Kabuto had used this chance to move in, tainting the information to his liking. He had made sure Orochimaru knew Sasuke had left on his own accord but left out the vital information that Itachi had captured him, detaining the raven until Orochimaru had transferred into a new body. Kabuto had been in charge of Sasuke's punishment after the snake-like man had found him half dead and poisoned. The youngest of them was still not completely trusted by either man, Kabuto watching him carefully just waiting for Sasuke to do something he saw unfit.

"Orochimaru-Sama." The silver haired man bowed in respect before completely approaching the slightly panting man taking another quick glance over at the raven that now had the faintest expression of pure annoyance. "I have the information you asked for." Kabuto held out the manila envelope for the snake Sannin, who snatched it from his hands, opening it slowly, a grin spreading across his lips as he read over the contents.

"Get our things; We leave immediately." He hissed, yellow eyes glowing slightly.

"Again?" Sasuke was even more annoyed sounding than he looked as he walked over to them. He growled slightly knowing he would have to go along; Orochimaru using him as more of a personal body guard than anything. Other than being the body the elder man coveted, Sasuke was now treated as someone who was unwilling to cooperate, when in all actuality, he couldn't give any less of a rat's ass about anything anymore, his only purpose was to defeat Itachi; in his own body or not.

"You forget your place." Kabuto snapped back at the dark haired shinobi, who blatantly ignored his hushed reminder.

"This one has information on Akatsuki's movements… or so he says." The hiss in Orochimaru's voice said there was nothing keeping him from killing the man, except for the information he claimed he held.

"I'll get our things." Kabuto turned, taking the chance to throw a malicious glare at the raven before he left. Sasuke scoffed lightly before following behind the medic Nin, heading for his own room instead.

* * *

"You think this person has any good information?" Naruto asked pushing off a branch as they ran through the forest on their way to the intended destination. Sakura turned to look at him as she pushed off the next branch slightly behind Naruto as they ran.

"Possibly, Tsunade-Sama said that they could be trusted." She stopped as they reached the fire country's boarder. "We should walk from here." She jumped to the ground landing with a soft crunch in the snow. She looked up at Naruto still perched on the branch as he was looking out over the land in front of them.

_Sasuke…_

His brows furrowed slightly as he looked over the glistening land, the sun shining down through parted dingy clouds over the newly fallen snow. He tried to imagine what Sasuke was doing, if he also had been stuck inside during the storm. The storm had already passed over the area and there wasn't any sign that it would snow any time soon. The sky was marred by trails of grey clouds, slowly gathering in their forces.

_Sasuke…_

Naruto smiled warmly, remembering days when they were children, and he'd actually managed to hit the raven in the back of the head with a snowball which turned into an all out snowball fight, with Naruto getting pummeled by Sasuke, Kakashi and Sakura.

"If the old hag thinks they are decent, I guess they can't be all that bad." Naruto landed next to Sakura, the snow crunching under the landing before they started walking. He turned his head slightly taking note that Sakura looked rather sad. He said nothing simply waiting for her to speak.

"Naruto." She said softly. The blonde turned completely to look at her, both haulting. "What if he's not himself anymore?" She asked seriously, knowing even the smallest mention of the Uchiha was something that brought both of them great sadness. Naruto shrugged, eyes now trained on the unmarked snow in front of them.

"I think he's still him." He was only half sure as he looked up at the wavering clouds, sunshine peeking through here and there as they passed; never lasting long enough to warm the chilly air. Naruto smiled slightly to himself before he turned to look at the girl, his smile bright. Sakura wiped at her eyes with the back of her gloved hand.

"I hope so." She forced a smile in return as they crossed the bridge connecting the two countries.

* * *

Sasuke looked out over the horizon, the sun slowly rising through the trees; the orange skin being ripped from the sphere to reveal the brighter yellow underneath, the shade of yellow that reminded the dark eyed shinobi of a life long past him. He glared at the waxing object as it slowly spread it light over everything, much like the blonde he was thinking of. Though he would never admit it to anyone, he had been happy to see the boy years ago, knowing his rival was growing stronger everyday, he would prove to be a good fight. Also, the raven knew, the always grinning boy was the only other person alive, save for himself, that could defeat Orochimaru when the time came.

Dark eyes glanced at the snake Sannin on the ground as he talked to the obviously scared man who was currently giving up all information he had. Sasuke looked away disgusted, turning his eyes to the sunrise once again. The raven never actually agreed with anything the falsely immortal man did but in order for the Uchiha to learn from him, he had to keep the appearance that he could care less, even though he knew he was better than the once great Sannin, maybe not in power and knowledge, but in just being human, one that was better than killing innocent people for no other reason than amusement. He lightly as he shook his head, shaking out the images that appeared before his eyes of the many things he had seen while in sound.

He turned his attention back to the sky as it lightened from a burnt orange to a light blue and dark again. Everything about the sky was reminding the raven of Naruto. For the past five, almost six years, Sasuke had to repress his memories, to continue his attempt to sever the bonds from his life in Konoha and every time he thought he had almost done so, the blonde would appear again, only to remind Sasuke that he was still there, that Naruto still wanted him to return 'home'.

He scoffed, audibly, keeping his eyes trained on the rising sun. "Dobe." He whispered to himself a small smirk spread across his lips before his thoughts were interrupted by the hiss of his name rolling up from the ground. Sasuke's expression immediately returned to the placidness it always was around the others, looking down at his 'master' the raven slid from the branch, landing next to him, his winter cloak floating down behind him, ruffling softly to rest around his ankles.

"We go south." Orochimaru smirked looking at the raven. "Did you find something to amuse you, Sasuke-kun?"

He glared, distain the obvious emotion his eyes were portraying. "No." He said flatly throwing a dissatisfied look at Kabuto knowing the silver-haired nin was boring a hole into the back of his head as he glided through the snow next to Orochimaru.

Kabuto smiled as he pressed the bridge of glasses back up on his nose having been watching the raven the entire time.


End file.
